Senegalese Baptism

Today I got the unique opportunity to see a Traditional Senegalese Baptism, or at least the celebration part of the baptism. After I felt good enough to get out my bed I took a shower and went just outside onto the unpaved road in front of the house. There was a tent set up that I remembered hearing being set up the night before when I was experiencing the deathly sickness, which covered the front of our house and the house across the street. 

I sat outside with the two students from the MSID program, Jack and Brittany, who lived in the houses directly across the street from me as well as a few students from the Global Citizen program for high school students taking a gap year, as one of the them was staying in the same house as Jack.  We sat and talked about our programs and experiences so far and we were making plans for what we wanted to do after lunch, which many people had at 2pm because it is in sync with the prayer times since 95% of Senegalese are Muslim. Brittany then mentioned that she thought her family was having a baptism today so she didn't know if she could do anything. The global citizen students had also heard about the baptism however they were unsure if they wanted to attend because they didn't think they had the proper attire. 

Then slowly people began to bring out chairs and sitting in the area of around us as I realized that a portion of the festivities would be happening right where we were sitting, however I didn't know what. We soon heard loud music coming from around the corner and then we saw there was a group of people coming down the street like a small parade, and we knew he baptism is here. 

There were some Senegalese men at the front playing instruments instruments while the the Senegalese woman at the front with the loudspeaker lead the procession, and a few other younger kids were holding baskets of fruits and other gifts for the family of the baby. The woman at the front was saying a lot of things in Wolof which were distinctly different phrases but they sounded in harmony like a song. They continued the music as they approached and entered the space under tent all the way until they were right in front of the entrance into the yard of the house. The woman then continued to speak, however it was like a conversation with the mother of the baby and the people present at the ceremony, as they would respond with affirmation to her after every one of her sentences or phrases. At some points other women would jump in and say something that I’m assuming was about the baby. 

Musiciens

Master of Ceremonies

After the woman finished and the music died down they went back down the street from where they came from. They then returned 15min later and performed another stage of the ceremony with music and a speech from the woman after which everyone who was present at the baptism ate. The mother of the baby even offered me food and water just because I was present, which seemed in accordance with the value system of the Senegalese because they are all about community and sharing. So I went into the front yard of the house to eat with the other young men who I assumed were related to the family and it needless to say that the food was delicious. After eating many family members just sat outside of the house and talked as I didn't know if anything was coming after the two processions or that night. However, once it started raining very hard and the road began flooding, I returned back into my house. The funny thing at the end of all of this is that despite all of these festivities for the baby, I never actually saw the baby who all of the celebration was for.

At the baptism I really enjoyed seeing all of the vibrant colors that the women were wearing. This was the first time that I had seen so many women wearing their traditional garbs. I wish I would have taken more pictures of the women in their dresses, however I felt bad asking for a picture of them just because I felt like a tourist doing so. Although now in retrospect I definitely should have as I haven't seen such colorful dresses since. Another thing I enjoyed about the baptism was that it was such a exciting and positive communal celebration all for the birth of one child.